3 out of 5

Typical SinDex antics – ‘typical’ being good in that context – that stumble a bit due to over-complicated plotting and an art mismatch.

Abnett’s long-running “gun monkey” duo of Raymond Sinister and Finny Dexter are buddy-comedy gold, enlivened by the freedom of the comic page and Dan’s wealthy imagination that’s produced a wonderfully fleshed out sci-fi-tinged setting with ‘Downlode’ and a slew of notable sidekicks and baddies that have fueled the various storylines.  Even off bits are entertaining, and that’s the level of the material here, this second floppy collection of SinDex odds and ends.

Chronologically following the Veejay / Kal intro from last volume, the Andy Clarke drawn Job Jobbed is a wonderfully compact and cheeky bit showing us Veej’s first solo outing, which goes as bumpily as befits our entertainment needs.  Mark Pingriff – like a Sunday comics version of Kelly Jones – handles the two-part Latte Animals, which is a dumb riff on Starbucks, but dumb in a good silly way that would’ve been nice filler in the profs.  The rest of the floppy goes to our Simon Davis Kal Cutter centerpiece.  Abnett rather unnecessarily chops up the linearity of his story to pace out getting Ray, Finny and Kal aboard a speeding train shooting it out with gangsters aboard another train.  The time-jumping seems random, and doesnt add much except confusion, heightened moreso by Dex’s heavier-than-usual cockney and a French detective who speaks in nigh-indecipherable phonetic pidgin English.  Davis’ bombastic painted style is a fun match for up close action and conversations, when his over-stated expressions and absurd colors add a surreal and energetic note to things, but his style falls apart for me when scenes scale up – this happens a lot in Slaine – with the movement on the page suddenly dying.  And since we have a huge train chase – and a car chase, actually – this happens in Kal Cutter more than it should.

Slow Train is maybe a bit too forcefully complex for its own good.  Thankfully, SinDex is such a reliably fun formula that it survives to become an enjoyable read all the same.